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Here We Grow Again: CCSI Registers 12 New Community Partners
The CCSI recently registered 12 organizations as community partners. They include American International Relief, Bit-By-Bit Therapeutic Riding Center, Learning for Success, and Van E. Blanton Elementary School.
The addition of those organizations brings the number of community partners registered this year to 15. Three community partners were registered near the start of the academic year.
American International Relief serves local and international communities by addressing hunger, food access, crime prevention, job placement, and youth enrichment issues and needs.
Bit-By-Bit’s vision is to “provide quality and professional equine-assisted services to the special needs community within South Florida.” The organization’s Horses For Heroes program is designed for people of diverse ages and abilities, offering a variety of medical and recreational services. Through additional programs, Bit-By-Bit provides mentoring, volunteer experiences, and activities for at-risk youth and disabled veterans.
Learning for Success manages the KAPOW (Kids and the Power of Work) program throughout South Florida. Through KAPOW, kids in elementary school are introduced to careers by means of professionally designed lessons taught by business volunteers and visits to worksites.
Van E. Blanton Elementary is a title one school in the Miami-Dade County public school district. Located near Barry’s main campus in Miami Shores, the school provides general education classes for pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students as well as special education services.
The other newly registered community partners are Apostolic Faith Church, Box of Joy, Consortium for a Healthier Miami-Dade, Florida AIDS Walk, Nisei Goju Ryu Karate, Orange Bowl Community, The Greater Miami Holistic Chamber of Commerce, and Refresh Live.
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Academic Year’s Cream of the Crop Includes Barry Service Corps Fellows
Barry Service Corps fellows were part of the cream of the crop during the 2016–2017 academic year. Kevin Dalia, Presler Maxius, Hailee Jefferys, and Paris Razor distinguished themselves by their academic performance, which they balanced with campus and community involvement.
Dalia (Pre-Law) and Maxius (Psychology and Philosophy) were awarded the 2017 St. Catherine Medal for outstanding leadership and service.
Barry’s president, Sister Linda Bevilacqua, OP, PhD, conferred the honor on both students at the Honors Convocation last month.
Each year, Kappa Gamma Pi Honor Society makes the St. Catherine Medal available for outstanding student leadership and service to the university and the wider community. The Honors Committee coordinates the nomination and selection process to award the medal.
Dalia also received the Dean’s Award in the area of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Jefferys received the Dean’s Award in the School of Social Work.
Razor (English) won the award for first place in the Fiction category of the Sigma Tau Delta Writing Competition. Her entry was titled “Rabbit Hole.”
The Honors Convocation was held on May 5 in Cor Jesu Chapel.
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Barry Group Attends to Foot-Care Needs of Homeless People
A group of students from Barry University’s School of Podiatric Medicine recently attended to the foot-care needs of homeless people in Miami. The students served alongside Dr. Luis A. Rodriguez Anaya, assistant professor and interim clinical education director, and Dr. Gabriel Santamarina, a third-year Mercy Hospital resident.
The occasion was an annual foot-washing event hosted by the First United Methodist Church of Miami.
Besides washing feet, the volunteers provided nail and callus care as well as information to assist homeless community members in taking care of their feet.
“As a podiatry student, especially during the pre-clinical years, having the opportunity to see podiatric ailments in the general population and assist with palliative care is a window into the workings of the profession,” said Yohandy Fuentes. “My experience during [the] homeless event has always been extraordinary in every aspect, and I look forward to being part of it again.”
According to the podiatry student, the event also provides students with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with medical instruments and proper utilization with real patients under the supervision of attending physicians and upperclassmen. The event, Fuentes added, provides a service to a sector of the community that is much in need.
Rodriguez said the foot-washing event – in which the School of Podiatric Medicine has participated for more than 10 years – is one of the most anticipated volunteer events of the spring.
“This event allows our physicians not only to give back to the community but also to teach the future podiatric physicians to recognize the importance of preventative foot care and health maintenance for the community at large,” he said.
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Students Reflect on Community Engagement Symposium Sessions
Students attending this year’s Community Engagement Symposium reflected in glowing terms on some of the sessions they attended.
Students generally called the sessions “interesting” and “informative”; some said sessions “inspired” them to succeed as students and future professionals.
For example, a student who attended a concurrent session on community partnership development said the “presentation was not only informative, but also inspired me in many ways.”
Lauren Seyranian said she learned the importance of building bonds, communicating effectively, and demonstrating dedication to one’s job. Consequently, she will be diligent as a communication student over the next two years so she will develop skills to “create meaningful and impactful relationships with others.”
Another student attending the same symposium session highlighted her understanding of the importance of community partnership-building efforts.
Genesis Castillo said the partnership described in the session “was trying to make our world better for all who live in it.” She also spoke about the importance of striving “to reach the highest level of achievement” in the workplace and the community.
Both Seyranian and Castillo were enrolled in the section of COM 201: Introduction to Communication taught by Dr. Nickesia Gordon, an associate professor.
It was Dr. Tisa McGhee, associate professor of social work and service-learning faculty fellow, who presented the session on community partnership development. In that session, she described “a multidimensional community partnership” involving the Charles R. Drew K-8 Center, the Miami Children’s Initiative, and Barry University’s School of Social Work. The partnership, “created with a vision to impact the high-trauma community of Liberty City in Miami,” has been successful in building reciprocity among the partners and providing benefits to the community.
Using the “Benchmarks for Campus/Community Partnerships” framework, McGhee shared the partnership’s vision, relationship-building process, community integration efforts, and factors sustaining the partnership.
Dr. Tony Wallner, an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, was the symposium session facilitator.
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Box Tops for Education Drive Continuing Throughout Summer
The Box Tops for Education Drive organized by the Minority Association of Pre-health Students (MAPS) and the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) is continuing throughout the summer terms.
Proceeds of the Box Tops donations benefit two schools – North Miami Elementary in Miami-Dade County and Sheridan Hills Elementary in Broward County.
Staff, faculty, and students are urged to participate by donating box tops.
“Simply identify the Box Tops logo on household products you already purchase, including many grocery items, and cut the logo from the packaging,” the organizers explain. “You may submit your box tops in the donation boxes on campus. Donation boxes are at various locations, including in the CCSI office, Adrian 208.”
Box Tops donations also may be sent via interoffice mail to Dr. Stephanie Bingham, the MAPS advisor, in the Department of Biology, Siena 309.
Arrangements may be made for the placement of additional boxes in or near specific offices and for donation pickup from staff, faculty, and students. For further information, contact BarryMAPS@gmail.com or the CCSI at service@barry.edu.
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Faculty Member Comments on Sports and Sexual Assault
Dr. Laura Finley, an associate professor of sociology and criminology at Barry, has commented on the issue of sexual assault involving professional athletes.
Victims of assault are often hesitant to come forward, she suggests, because “if you take on a professional athlete, your name is going to be dragged through the mud.”
Quoted in a recent issue of CQ Researcher, Finley notes that athletes “tend to have more resources to navigate the criminal justice system better.”
Writer Susan Ladika points out that last year was “a notorious one for sexual assault involving star athletes.” However, sexual assault cases involving professional athletes are less often in the news than cases involving college athletes.
According to Ladika’s article, one reason may be that the pool of professional sports figures is much smaller. More than 480,000 students compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) while there are only about 13,700 professional athletes. And, as Finley is quoted as saying, most people “age out” of committing crimes.
If athletes are overrepresented in sexual assault allegations, Finley says, that doesn’t mean they are convicted at higher rates than others, nor does it mean they are more likely to have been falsely accused.
Ladika writes: “Research suggests that sexual assault is more prevalent among athletes in ‘power and performance sports’ such as football and basketball, ‘where male bonding is encouraged,’ says Finley of Barry University. ‘It’s rare in cross-country, which is more of an individual sport. … Groups that are heavily hypermasculine have a hard time trying to know when to turn this off and on,’ she says. ‘They have societal permission to be aggressive and violent.’”
In the introduction to the feature article on “Sports and Sexual Assault” in CQ Researcher (Vol. 27, No. 16), the writer asks, “Can colleges and pro leagues curb abuse by athletes?”
Sexual assault is one of the social issues justice issues addressed by the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), primarily through co-curricular programs.
Finley is facilitator of the CCSI-coordinated Faculty Learning Community for Engaged Scholarship. And much of her scholarly work is focused on sexual assault.
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Next Issue of Engagement News Scheduled for June 19
Engagement News is being published twice this month. The next issue is slated for June 19 and will highlight a program called KAPOW – Kids and the Power of Work.
The newsletter will be published twice in July as well. The July issues are scheduled to be out on the second and fourth Mondays.
Regular weekly issues of Engagement News will resume at the start of the 2017–2018 academic year.
The Department of Marketing and Communications publishes Engagement News on behalf of the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI).
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CCSI Newsletter
Posted On : June 05, 2017
